If I had to choose my favorite Holiday, Halloween would make it to the top of my list! I absolutely love going to the pumpkin patch, carving pumpkins and eating the seeds I labored to scrape out. I also love setting up scary and fun Halloween décor and baking fall treats! Not to mention all the chocolate candies strategically placed around the entire grocery store.

Whether you are having a Halloween party or a fall celebration, these cupcakes are sure to impress your guests! Death by Chocolate Cupcakes are filled with raspberry jam to add a little sweetness to the chocolaty cake and frosting (and it sort-of looks like blood, going with the theme ofdeath by chocolate). 🙂I had a ton of fun decorating and picking out the headstone shaped cookies at the store. I ended up purchasing Chocolate Milano Cookies filled with vanilla and chocolate covered graham crackers for a few different shapes. I also found silver sugar, which was fun to sprinkle on the frosting and decorate the headstone cookies. The cupcake recipe is simple, which was purposeful because there are many steps to create the Death by Chocolate Cupcakes. These cupcakes are made with slightly less butter than usual, so they are best eaten same day and stored in an airtight container. Use your creativity for decorations and I would love to see what you come up with!

Enjoy and let us know what you think!

Death by Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes

2013-10-14 13:58:00

Yields 24

A delicious and chocolatey cupcake oozing with raspberry filling topped with a cookie gravestone. Perfect for your next Halloween party!

4. Bake for 15-20 minutes until center of cupcake springs back when touched lightly. Let sit for three minutes and place cupcakes on cooling rack. *Prepare frosting and head stones while baking/cooling.

5. Once cupcakes are completely cool press a skinny frosting tip upside-down into the middle of cupcake (just before you reach the bottom) to remove a small amount of cake to replace with filling. If you do not have a frosting tip, use a sharp knife and cut a small circle out of the middle of the cupcake. Repeat with each cupcake.

6. Once all cupcakes have been opened up, use a piping bag and tip (#12) to squeeze jam into holes; fill just to the top, or spoon in the middle carefully.

Royal Icing Directions

1. Add sugar and 3 teaspoons water to a medium bowl and beat well.

2. Add 1-2 more teaspoons to create a thick consistency that can be squeezed through a small frosting tip.

3. Place icing into frosting bag with small writing tip (#3).

4. Pipe RIP onto cookies and let sit to harden while you frost cupcakes. Feel free to use your imagination for decorating!

*If you don’t have supplies for this, you can get tubes of frosting at the store with tips for decoration!

Death by Chocolate Frosting Directions

1. Melt butter in heatproof bowl and then pour into a large bowl.

2. Sift cocoa powder into butter and stir until combined and smooth. Then add vanilla and mix well.

3. Sift 1 cup of powered sugar into butter bowl and beat well between each addition. Repeat for 5 cups total.

4. Add 2 tablespoons milk and up to 2 tablespoons water to get the consistency you desire. Frosting is better thicker so the headstones will be held down.

5. Spread or pipe into cooled cupcakes. Be sure to stack frosting about an inch thick so the headstones will be anchored down.

6. Place headstones into cupcakes by pressing firmly into frosting.

7. Serve and enjoy!

Notes

*Note: these cupcakes are best eaten the same day, but will last for up to two days in an airtight container.